Jim Knowles was added to the Blue Devil staff on December 28, 2009 and serves as the program’s Defensive Coordinator. He was the head coach at Cornell for six seasons (2004-09) and a member of David Cutcliffe’s staff at Ole Miss in 2003.

In 2013, Duke’s defense included three first team All-ACC picks in linebacker Kelby Brown, safety Jeremy Cash and cornerback Ross Cockrell, marking Duke’s highest total of defensive first team selections since 1974. With 133 tackles on the year, linebacker David Helton led the ACC in total stops while Cash finished second with 121. Brown was tops in the league in tackles per game (10.4) in conference games.

Cockrell was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

The Blue Devils recorded 26 takeaways in 2013 — the fourth-highest total in the ACC — and their average points allowed in the fourth quarter (4.64) ranked second in the conference, trailing only national champion Florida State. In addition, Duke won all four of its road ACC games by allowing an average of 19.5 points per contest in victories over North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils had three members of its defensive unit earn All-ACC honors in 2012: defensive end Kenny Anunike (Honorable mention), safety Walt Canty (2nd team) and Cockrell (1st team). Anunike led Duke in sacks for the second straight season, Canty paced the squad in tackles with 109 while Cockrell, an honorable mention All-America pick by Sports Illustrated, posted an ACC-best five interceptions on the year.

In 2011, the Duke defense was led by safety Matt Daniels, who earned first team All-ACC and second team All-America honors after posting 126 tackles. Daniels went on to sign a free agent contract with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.

Knowles coached the Blue Devil safeties in 2010 as Daniels led the charge with 93 tackles, six tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, three caused fumbles and two fumble recoveries. His three forced fumbles ranked second in the ACC. In addition, Canty carded 63 tackles while Lee Butler chipped in 58 stops.

In addition, Knowles oversaw the mid-season transition of August Campbell from linebacker to safety and the redshirt freshman responded with a school record 95-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Boston College. The return broke the 54-year old record of 77 yards set by Ed Rushton against Pittsburgh in 1956.

A 1987 graduate of Cornell, Knowles spent nine years (1988-96) as an assistant coach at his alma mater, helping the Big Red to Ivy League championships in 1988 and 1990. In his first stint at Cornell, he coached defensive line (1988), running backs (1989-94) and linebackers (1995-96) while coordinating the staff’s recruiting efforts (1995-96). He was named Cornell’s 25th head football coach in January, 2004, and guided the Big Red to an overall ledger of 26-34 with a 16-26 record in Ivy League play.

In his first season at the helm of the Big Red program, Knowles turned a 1-9 squad that lost seven games by at least two touchdowns into a 4-6 unit that went 4-3 in conference play and lost all six contests by 10 points or less. Cornell’s 2004 squad became the first team in Ivy League history to go from zero conference wins to a winning league slate in just one season. Under Knowles, Cornell posted three consecutive seasons (2005-06-07) at .500 or better for the first time since 1990-91-92 and, in 2007, enjoyed a stretch of scoring 30 or more points in four straight games for the first time since 1921 while home attendance nearly doubled from the 2006 campaign.

In his lone season at Ole Miss, Knowles aided the Rebels to a 10-3 record, a share of the SEC Western Division championship and a 31-28 victory over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Coaching the linebackers while serving as recruiting coordinator, Knowles helped the Ole Miss defense rank 14th in the nation in rushing defense while the Rebels held eight opponents -- including eventual national champion LSU -- to 21 or fewer points.

Knowles spent six seasons (1997-02) on the staff at Western Michigan University, serving the last two campaigns as defensive coordinator. In 2002, the Broncos led the Mid-American Conference and ranked 28th nationally in total defense and featured Jason Babin, the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and the school’s first NFL first round draft pick. In 2001, Western Michigan paced the conference and ranked 17th nationally in pass defense. Knowles’ tenure with the Broncos also included three shutouts during the 2000 season -- the school’s highest total since 1971 -- and the development of two-time All-MAC pick Dan Falcon (1997-98) and Ryan Bauer, who led the league in sacks in 1997.

A native of Philadelphia, Pa., Knowles was a three-year letterman and All-Ivy League selection as a defensive end at Cornell before graduating in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children -- Halle, Luke and Jack.